Yeah, I know that. There are some people who hunt. Not just royals. Hunting as a sport is a legitimate reason to own guns, by which I mean it is one of the reasons which is accepted in law as a legitimate reason to apply for a licence and own a gun. Most farmers own guns.
Figures from 2010 for gun ownership in the UK
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According to the most recent figures for England and Wales, there are 138,728 people certificated to hold firearms and they own 435,383 weapons. There are 574,946 shotgun certificates which cover 1.4 million shotguns.
Statistics for Scotland show that 70,839 firearms were held by 26,072 certificate holders at the end of last year. Some 50,000 people in Scotland are certificated to hold shotguns - and 137,768 weapons are covered by that scheme.
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It is difficult to get a gun licence. You have to prove that you have a reasonable justification for owning a gun - sport for instance or professional reasons (farmers for instance usually own shotguns). You have to provide references who will vouch for you. You have to be assessed as fit to own a gun and you have to comply with strict safety rules regarding how those guns are kept and where.
And yeah - sometimes criminal have guns.
But look at the figures for gun deaths and gun crime:
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Gun Murders in England, Scotland and Wales 2011/12
There were 640 Murders / Homicides in Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) in 2011/12 (10.43 per million population)
Of these 640 Murders / Homicides, 44 involved a gun or firearm as the main weapon. Gun murders in Britain in 2011/12 represent 6% of the murder cases, (0.72 gun homicides per million population).
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Because criminals aren't as well or frequently armed the police don't have to be as well or frequently armed.
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In the year 2011–12, there were 6,756 Authorised Firearms Officers, 12,550 police operations in which firearms were authorised throughout England and Wales and 5 incidents where conventional firearms were used.[2]
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Between 1980 and 2012 there were 19 incidents of fatal shooting by police (not including Northern ireland - which is a very different kettle of cod).
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Police officers in England and Wales opened fire just five times for the year 2011/12. Out of these incidents, two people were killed, including Duggan.
In the four years to 2012, armed officers officers opened fire 18 times - nine fatally. No-one was shot dead by police in 2012/13.
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http://www.channel4.com/news/police-...ppy-fact-check
I have some sympathy with the American police. I can see why they might get a little itchy on the trigger given the serious danger they face on a regular basis of being shot at. And I can see why someone would want to own a gun for self defence when there is a serious danger of facing criminals who are armed with guns.
But it effectively leads to an arms race. Gun homicides in the US for 2012 were 2.83 per 100,000 population.
And that's just homicides. Thousands die every year to gun accidents. And tens of thousands commit suicide with a gun - which increases overall suicide rates as they are more likely to be successful suicides than most other methods.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_...United_Kingdom
http://www.citizensreportuk.org/repo...olence-uk.html
Look - I'm not going to convince you that gun control is a good thing. Nor is that my intent. The situation in America is culturally specific. And the problem with an arms race is - being the one who disarms first puts you at risk. But - I do want to show why I don't think it wuold be a good idea for the UK to emulate America's approach to gun ownership.
The dangers of possible invasion though possible are highly theoretical - not saying it couldnt happen - of course it could. But It is difficult to feel that as a real danger when we haven't been successfully invaded in many centuries. We've had invasion scares - but it's not materialised. There was an attempt in 1797 and that was actually the most recent attempt at an invasion - but the last successful invasion was 1000 years ago.
In terms of warfare there hasn't been a need for an actual battle on the mainland since (I think) the mid 18th century. Not counting the Battle of Britain of course which was fought in the air.
And the last time government forces fired on protesting civilians was, I think the 19th century (though I could be wrong on that). Riots and demonstrations haven't been met with deadly force for a very, very long time (again, except for in Northern Ireland).
So the threat of a tyrannical government imposing itself by force of arms similarly doesn't feel like a real threat. Again, that these things haven't happened for a long time doesn't mean they could never happen - but they just aren't as a big a part of our national psyche as they are for yours.
Terrorism as a threat is real, yes. But - actual incidents since the end of the Troubles have been few and far between (and for most of the time during the Troubles the threats were all to do with placed bombs) Horrific when they do occur - unlikely in most instances to have been less deadly had civilians been carrying weapons.
What does feel like a real threat is the idea of a lot more people having guns. And then a lot more police having guns. And a lot more criminals having guns. And a lot more people ....and repeat.